What Are The Different Ways Bonsai Pots Can Be Made (Shaping Pots By Hand vs Factory Made)

When you look at different bonsai pots, you might just think they are all made in the same way, and while the overall production process of pots can look similar there are still a lot of differences.

You are always going to have to take a lump of clay and manipulate it into the shape of a bonsai pot. It is this part of the process where some of the biggest differences lie.

The clay can either be shaped by hand, or it can be shaped from moulds and these differences are what we will be looking at here.

Handmade vs Moulded Pots

When you look at the overall production of a pot, it all looks the same. A lump of clay is taken and processed into the shape of a bonsai pot. The clay is then either glazed or not, and fired in a kiln to get the final product.

However, it is the initial shaping of the pot that can really make all the difference to the final pot.

Shaping a pot by hand may seem slow and there will always be room for human error in the process, but the reality is that doing this requires a lot of skill and time and you can see this in the final pot.

A bonsai pot that is handmade will usually be of a higher quality, and while that can be partly due to the type of clay used, it is usually a lot to do with the level care and love that is put into the clay as every minute detail is carefully crafted, which is of course not there in a moulded pot.

This doesn’t always mean handcrafted pots are “better” but you will notice the difference. This is normally because the moulded pots are mass produced. They are quickly (and cheaply) made in bulk and that extra level of care often isn’t there compared to a handmade pot.

(You can read more about – Should You Buy A Handmade Bonsai Pot?)

How Are Handmade Bonsai Pots Shaped?

Handmade bonsai pots are made from clay and are completely built by one person …by hand.

Lumps of clay are taken and processed into the shape of the pot. This requires a lot a skill, time and craftsmanship, which is why they are both sought after and demand a higher price.

These types of pots can be made in two different ways, either on a wheel or built by using slabs of clay.

Pots Can be Thrown On A Wheel

When you think of pottery in general, you probably think of a potters wheel and a lump of clay spinning around and being magically manipulated into shape.

Bonsai pots can also be created in this way and this is usually how the more round/circular shape pots are formed.

I really like to watch these pots be made, they make it look so easy, but you know for a fact that if any of us tried it, it would be a disaster.

Pots Can Be Made Using Slabs

Creating a bonsai pot from slabs of clay sounds strange, but when you see it in action it makes a lot of sense, especially when you see more the squared shaped pots, or oval pots, which obviously can’t be spun on a wheel. (Round pots can also be made from slabs)

A lump of clay is taken and rolled out flat into a sheet. This is then cut into various sized slices that will make up the separate parts of the pot, such as the walls or the base. The potter will often have templates they use, so they can cut the right sizes to make sure everything fits perfect.

This can actually allow them to make the same pot multiple times and each time they will be exactly the same, with a course a few minute differences since the process is hand crafted.

The clay sections that have been cut are assembled together as if it is some sort of 3D jigsaw. This is extremely impressive to watch as a bunch of flat pieces of clay can quickly be assembled to become an amazing pot.

How Are Moulded Bonsai Pots Shaped?

If you ever heard that a bonsai pot is mass produced, or factory made, it means it has probably been made with a mould.

This is of course the opposite of handmade and the whole point of this method is that a lot of pots can be produced quickly, while all being of the same standard, shape and size.

These pots are fine and they do serve a purpose, but they are usually of lower quality compared to the hand crafted pots and the price of them does reflect that.

Mass produced pots can be made from clay, but they will also be made from plastics too, which can easily be moulded.

Slip Casts

Slip casting is when you have a mould that can be basically filled with liquid clay or plastic and allowed to set. The outer mould is then removed and the pot is fully formed.

Producing pots like this is very fast and efficient. All the pots will come out exactly the same and this allows them to mass produced at a low price.

While the mould can do a good job, there is always the chance of imperfections and it is down to the producers to be checking for these after the pots have been formed, which I do feel is lacking when you look at the very inexpensive pots. Although, these pots are cheap, so what do you expect?

Pressing Moulds

Pressing moulds are similar, but the clay is just squished into one half of a mould and then a second part is pressed into it. The clay is squeezed between the two halves of the mould and is pressed into shape.

This can be done by hand, or a machine and it will also allow the exactly same pot to be produced quickly and easily every time, so you will also find that this way of shaping a pot can also be turned into a production line for mass production too.

This again has the same problem of imperfections forming during the process. The clay may not be pressed evenly throughout the pot, which is never ideal and would need to be inspected by the manufactures for quality control …which may not always be there with the lower priced pots. 

Somewhere In Between The Two Methods

While we often think a pot has to be made by one way or the other, you may find there is a sort of middle ground.

Some potters may use moulds to get the basic shape of pot, mainly to make sure that they are all the same size, and then they will finish them by hand making sure there are no imperfections.

This is going to be common in small studios, where they are trying to speed up production, as well as offer a range of pots that are all the exact same, rather than just one off pieces.

Doing things like this can make sure the quality is kept high, while also helping to lower the cost of production, which can be passed on to us.  

This is very common in other areas of pottery too and you will see this happen with tea pots, they are mould pressed and then the finer details are finished by hand. They do this for the same reason, it speeds things up, while keeping them consistent and a higher quality than having them totally moulded.

(You can read more about – How Are Bonsai Pots Made? (The Complete Journey Of Clay Through The Production Process))

Making Bonsai Pots At Home

If you have ever seen someone make a bonsai pot at home, they will often end up sort of using a combination of both methods.

A lot of people will try and make pots using slabs of clay and realise it’s a lot harder than it looks so they will often revert to building some sort of mould and trying to press the clay into this and then finishing things off by hand.

This approach can basically allow anyone to end up with a half decent pot as it doesn’t require the same level of skill or craftsmanship as doing everything by hand.

You will also see that slip casting is popular with wetter materials, such as concrete, as this is can be easily poured into a mould and then it can be finished off by hand once it is mostly set, where the rough edges are usually sanded down.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can understand the different ways that bonsai pots are initially shaped and how this can affect the final pot.

The differences may only seem subtle, but they do matter and it is one of many things can affect the price, quality and general feel of the pot so it is good if you can understand how exactly the pot was made as this can allow you decide if it is right for your tree or not. 

(You can read more about – Why Are Bonsai Pots So Expensive?)